ClutchFans Game Thread: Mavericks @ Rockets 1/24/2016

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Yes we know that. Glad you accept that.

JFizzle is a wishy washy hypocrite. He is what you call a blind follower. Zero basketball foresight or knowledge. One minute he will bash someone and then turn around jump on the other side of the bandwagon and say that same someone is the best.

 

First game of the day still no replay up.

 

blacked out

 

Check out Ariza/Harden/Lawson statline, he basically allowed everybody he guarded to score.

 

Josh Smith's passing changes everything for us. The spacing he provides could also help Ty Lawson become more active on offense. Also, the Basketball is no longer getting stuck in Terrence Jones hands on P/Rs. Unlike Jones, Josh Smith doesn't have a one track mind and is a willing passer coming off screens. This is a good TEAM win.

I don't remember the last time we've won like that while James only scores 23. More to come when Dwight returns. Trevor was MVP this Sunday. :grin:

 

Clippers fans might hate life come playoff time again...Can't believe the Clippers sent Smith back to the Rockets

 

Btw shout out to Bev being back. He didn't score well but honestly we need both him and Ariza in the game to defend guys, Harden and Lawson for extended period of time allows the opponents to get into a groove so with Bev back and JSmith back to defend the PF spot this is pretty much the scenario last year when Harden exploded and carried the team to the 2nd seed. You can see Harden feels like he's been freed because Bev and 3za has his back defensively, unlike when he was forced to defend 1 on 1 and would always get abused on the other side of the court.

Now I think the Rox at full strength should be just below GSW and Spurs and should be able to give Cavs and OKC a good fight. We just need Dwight to be healthy and Lawson to be extremely comfortable to see what the team can do.

 

I think harden and Lawson were pretty good on defense today. There was a few dumb switches but overall James played good man defense on every guy he got matched up with and didn't ball watch either..... Progress.

Ty was pretty good too just small but guarding barea helps he's smaller than ty.

 

Yep and Ty being small didnt hurt him much in Denver...glad to see Ty's confidence coming back

 

Lawson and smith with some time to gel should make our second unit hot as balls. Doc rivers might be an idiot

 

Most fun I've had at a game all season & a really, really quality win. Shout out to Doc Rivers.

 

Doc is the real MVP. Love it.

 

Still had stretches of really bad basketball, 2nd quarter of course, but yeah it's really up there with the @Memphis win.

@Memphis was more TJones heroic, today is team ball energized by Josh Smith and co.

 

Nice and quiet after the wins.

 

• Attack Anderson, Babbit and Ajinca on the drive. Douglas can be beat, but he likes to gamble for steals.
• Attack Anderson Babbit and Ajinca in the P&R. Evans and then maybe Cole are their only good 1-3 P&R defenders. The rest of them are average or below.
• Attack Anderson, Ajinca, and Asik in transition. I worry about attacking their bigs in transition because we are limited and they have so many, so we might have to use more time outs. Babbit and maybe Gee are good for a few transition baskets if you’re sneaky.
• Tyreke is their best playmaker, but you can get steals off him as well.
• Anderson is not out-jumping anybody so box him out. He likes to sneak in for offensive rebounds and go straight back up with it. Box him out when he shoots as well as from the 3pt line. They have bigs and without Dwight they will crash.
• Anderson and Babbit suck at closing out, followed by Gee and Ajinca (he relies so much on his length to make up for it, but he still has slow foot speed). Douglas sucks at contesting.
• Only two inside threats in Davis and Anderson (likes that little fader). Try not to let him back you down (body him up) so he can’t get in rhythm. Anderson has weak handles-make him put the ball on the floor.
• Davis is really their only shot blocker and then maybe Ajinca. Asik changes shots.
• If Evans is not guarding Harden, James should not have trouble scoring on the rest of their team.
• Steal rebounds from Gee.
• Try to make Tyreke settle for the 5-14 foot shot. He is good at finishing inside and from mid-range. I am playing him tight until the FT line, then I am sagging off a little to give myself space once he gets inside 14-15 feet.
• Anderson likes to shoot deep 3’s.

 

Very good call by Bickerstaff to go small ball with the starting lineup.

Nice to see some swagger return to the team. Lawson finally seems to be getting comfortable with his role, and having Smith in that second unit will really help in that department, I think.

 

No highlight?

 

If the Rockets do decide to go small on Davis to run P&Rs and whatnot, then his man should be in the corner. It his harder to help from there and easier to find the corner guy if he helps because you ain't missing Davis on the way to the basket.

Davis is so effective inside on both ends.

 

Where is the full highlight of this team?